With that being said I will proceed to the review.
"Ningen Doubutsuen" or "Human Zoo" also known as "Clap Vocalism" is a two minute short anime by Yōji Kuri. He was an important figure in the history of Japanese independent animation. So reviewing this will be a pain. As I do not look at his work from a biased point of view of a fan rather someone who is merely consuming it at face value and judging it on the basis of what it has to offer as a standalone piece.
This is a theme based short animation and with that being said, does not have a narrative, characters and the like. It is merely an exhibition of an idea or message if you will.
So given that I am consuming this not at the time it was concocted for I might be amiss to the message or themes that it is trying to tell me, but from my conjecture based on what I saw in this two minute short anime was a message that can be interpreted in several ways.
1. The societal power struggle between genders of the opposite sex as seen by the director.
2. The subjugation of Men and the frustration of the director. (Cautionary Tale)
3. The liberation of Women and the activist nature of the director. (Right to Equality)
4. The carnal fantasies of the director. (Femdom)
The problems that arise from this is a mixture of themes that does not harmonize well with each other and cannot be properly established in this short anime and thus will not resonate with the vast majority of people consuming this as of today.
So it makes sense for it to be in the category of dementia here on MAL. However. What is dementia? Dementia is madness. And in that it has excelled. In my humble perspective this is the best Dementia piece in the existence of anime thus far in terms of depth that I have witnessed. Even surpassing other well known dementia pieces such as "Nami" and "Utsu Musume Sayuri".
And the crude and discord nature in its execution and the repetitive nature in terms of its animation, art and sound only adds so much more depth to the dementia aspect that this short anime has to offer. So if you're an avid dementia fan you will find this a hidden gem or a treat if you will. As for me I'm not in this category as it is not my cup of tea.
I hope my review gives you a chance to understand how I personally feel about the work, as well as gaining an understanding of what the work is about. And that the review is ultimately delivered as fairly and objectively and detailed as possible, and done so in a way that does not spoil the artistic composition for you. To provide you with tools to decide by yourself if you wanna check this artistic composition out or not.
tldr; Better than Nami or Utsu Musume Sayuri in terms of depth if you're a fan of depth in dementia. Worse than Nami or Utsu Musume Sayuri if you're not a fan of depth in dementia.
